POWER ON THE FARM

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 105, 31 October 1923, Page 11

POWER ON THE FARM

USE OF ELECTRICITY IN SAVjNG OF LABOUR A RURAL REVOLUTION. . The application of - electricity to rural life has such manifold advantages that it is likely to work a revolution wherever ;it enters into the sphere of fanning. Labour on the land has always been a difficulty in New Zealand, aid the valua of labour-saving machinery hag, on that | account, been quickly appreciated- The ! milking machine is really a New Zealand 'invention—most certainly, it has been jma.de a practical device py New -Zealand i experience. Without it there could have i been nothing like the expansion of- ti» I dairy industry that has Been seen tors in tlie last dozen years or so. The introduction, of the milking machine was ' accompanied by various forms of power ' , for driving it, mostly in the shape of ioil engines. „-, .■ '.:.■'-■,.'■■::■■■-.■,■- -.-. '- ' I These have served their .ptirpioae. well, ' | but they have the disadvantage of .using imported fuel, of being' somewhat liable to get out of order, and of being riot ' over cleanly in. a milking .shed, where ; oil and grease-and the-fumes of a work* , ing internal combustion engine are ob- . : jectionable. Wherever a supply of elec- , | tricity at a moderate cost is' available, I there is always a tendency to supersede ' the oil motor with the electric .motor. : Electricity has so many additional. advantages over and above it's. ease-. ot application, cleanliness, and reliability, j that it really makes for a new era: m farm life. . , II ■ . . ■ ■ a LIGHTING THE HOME. >■- The first use of electricity that will d naturally occur is the lighting of the c home. Already some hundreds of farm* '- in New Zealand are supplied with electricity, and it is one of the features of '« the Waikato district, which has made it perhaps the greatest advances in rural it electricity in the Dominion, to,.eee thf i- well-lit countryside and the farm houses 3f blazing with electricity. . .'' .",.'".';' a The current is supplied in the Canterie bury area at a fixed rate per lamp, and !d the cost of lighting a moderate farm :e with twelve lights in the house, four., in |d the stables, four in'the cow byres, arid m four in the other outbuildings, runsfrom ie £8 to £10 per year. • -This is much less m than the cost of. kerosene lighting,_antl in much more effective. Its convenience is "d best realised on a chilly winter mofnie ing, when the cheerful.blaze;.of. light puts new heart into the work. The notable fire risks of kerosene are also avoid-

The uses of electricity about the home are manifold. An electric heating-ele-ment in the hot water cistern' ensureV-a plentiful supply of hot water, especially in the early morning, when- it' is most needed. The electric cookijigrarige would save the housewife the arduous and trying labour entailed in.-mariaeiSi the usual type of range and- make fo* better mokmg, . while the sniaif motor can be used to run • a washing- machine asewing machine, or ».vacuum cleanersi! labour-saving appliances." . \^

THE MILKING MACHINE gfSggfl rung a milking aachina k'fS b«t f«r* often be? 1S 0» *rt-Sl often be less. In addition to drivine the milking plant a nd the § eparX^eW overnight for scalding out the''Want 56;^ ° B"to»TW 0* el^tricity for- this purpose for ten Tinnr* ?«- .quite amEle..- rS of hot water on. the' ipbt wovUd be^ fc real boon to the dairy lM^«r,-and maj» for real progress in the industry. Other uses to which electricity could be put, and is being put, aro: Sawing wood pumping water, harvesting and threshing, grinding and gristing, shear. ing, wool-pressing, and running the farm workshop. It may be that the'presence of this handy source.of power may-en-courage some-of the smaller industries which accompany farm life "in. rural Europe, such as toy-niakSng, knitting; lace-making, and the like. Such developments lie with the people themselves. Klectricity does its part in affording the cleanest, cheapest, and most convenient instrument of power. "' •'